John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 2:1-2

"And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown." — Jeremiah 2:1-2 (ASV)

God now mentions to his servant the commands that he was to convey to the king and priests, and to the whole people; for by the ears of Jerusalem he means all its inhabitants. God here intimates that the Jews were unworthy of being cared for by him anymore, but that he is persuaded by another reason not to reject them completely, until he had discovered through experience their irreclaimable wickedness.

So then he makes this preface: I remember you for the kindness of your youth, and the love of your espousals. In these words he shows that he did not regard what the Jews deserved, nor acknowledged any worthiness in them as the reason why he was concerned for their salvation, and endeavored to bring them to the right way by the labors of his prophet, but that this is to be ascribed to his former benefits.

Some render the words, “I remember the piety or kindness of your youth;” and לך lak may be taken this way, as it is in other places. Others omit this word, while others consider a conjunction to be understood: “I remember you, and the kindness of your youth.”

But none, as I think, have grasped the Prophet's meaning: there is yet no obscurity in the words, if a preposition is considered to be understood, so as to read it this way—that God remembered his people for the kindness that he had shown to them, and for the love that he had manifested toward them from the beginning.

Then the real meaning of the Prophet, I think, is this—that God here takes away every ground for pride and boasting from the Jews, as though he had said that they had no reason to think they were worthy; but that he was still their Father, and was therefore unwilling for the benefits he had formerly conferred upon them to be completely lost.

In short, a reason is given here why God sent Jeremiah after the other prophets; as though he had said, “It is a testimony to you of the paternal care that I show to you, when I send My prophet to give you a hope of pardon, if you return to the right way and are reconciled to Me.

But how is it that I still show a concern for you, since you have forgotten Me, and completely disregarded My law? It is so, because I wish to continue My favors to you.” He takes the phrase kindness of your youth in a passive sense; for he does not mean that the Jews were kind or merciful, but that they had experienced the kindness of God.

But the metaphor here used must be noticed. God compares himself here to a young bridegroom who marries a youthful bride, in the flower of her age and in the prime of her beauty; and it is a way of speaking commonly adopted by the prophets. I will not now detain you with a long explanation, as the subject will be treated more extensively in another place.

Since God, then, had espoused the people of Israel when he redeemed and brought them out of Egypt, he says now, that he remembers the people on account of that kindness and love. He places kindness or beneficence before love. The word חסר, chesad, properly means a gratuitous favor or kindness, which is shown to the miserable, or beneficence.

By the word love, God means in many other places the gratuitous election with which he had favored the whole people. The expression is indeed made clearer when kindness or gratuitous favor is placed first, and then love is added; though nothing new is added, the Prophet more fully shows that the people had been loved by God in no other way than through his kindness.

Now this is a remarkable passage, for God shows that his covenant, though treacherously violated by the Jews, was yet firm and unchangeable. For though not all who derive their descent according to the flesh from Abraham are true and legitimate Israelites, yet God always remains true, and his calling, as Paul says, is without repentance (Romans 11:29).

We may therefore learn this from the Prophet’s words—that God was not content with one prophet, but continued his favor, because he would not nullify his covenant. The Jews indeed had impiously departed from the covenant, and a vast number had deservedly perished, having been completely repudiated.

Yet God truly intended to show that his grace does not depend on the inconsistency of men (as Paul says in another place, for it would then presently fail, Romans 3:4), and that if all men were false and treacherous, God would still remain true and fixed in his purpose. This we learn from the Prophet’s words, when it is said, that God remembered the people on account of the kindness of their youth.

As to youth and espousals, we may therefore learn that they had been anticipated by God’s kindness; for they became connected with God in no other way than by having been chosen by him: their espousal would not have been enjoyed by the people if God had not anticipated them. What was Abraham? And what were all his descendants? God then now shows that the beginning of all blessings, and as it were the fountain, was this—that it pleased him to choose the people for himself.

And the same thing is confirmed in other words: When, he says, you followed Me in the desert, in a land not sown. The people, we know, did not obey God as they should have, even when he had redeemed them.

Therefore, God does not so much commend the people in this place for any merits of their own, but especially confirms what I have already stated—that he could not cast aside all care for a people whom he had once adopted, and whom he had led through the desert, so that they might be a people separated from the rest of the world.

He however concedes to them, according to his great goodness, the praise of obedience, because they followed God through rough ways, as though a tender young woman did not refuse to undergo hard and irksome toils from love for her bridegroom. He afterwards adds—